Very important to have faired hulls/foils. At the moth worlds the top guys were wet sanding their foils with 1200 every morning before racing. Because the foil is the only bit in the water, and due to the high speeds, any scratch can be felt through less than smooth ride and increased rooster tail off the foil which means lower speed.

On a cat with a long w/line length, there is a lot of turbulence so you don't feel these imperfections as much, but they are still there. So get out there and make sure the hull/foils are smooth! (Plus the boat looks better too)

of course all this extra sanding fairing polishing waxing is all undone with one stuffed tack, or a bad start. so until you can get all the way round the course without blowing a single tack or a mark rounding. whats more beneficial?? 100 hours in the "man-cave" or 100 hours extra time on the water practising? and please? polishing the mast?? if you polish your mast are you also removing all fittings from the deck or placing wind deflectors in front of every fitting, cos i think you will find thewy will cause a lot more wind disturbance than a mast that isnt mirror polished. next you will see guys racing their cats in cycling outfits with pointy back helmets!!! hahahaha

dont get me wrong, i understand the need for a smooth hull, and 1200 sanding before everyrace, yeah if your in contention for world champs maybe. and i also know that all the 0.1%'s all add up, what i am saying is make sure you have all your 5%'s out of the way first. and good luck to anyone who wants to put the effort in to polishing hulls, ill drop my boat off to your place and you can practice on mine first. if its easier you can do my boat at my place, there is beer in the fridge in the " man cave", help yourself!!!!

The finish on my boat is getting pretty bad after 5 years and I must do something. Seems wet sanding with 1000 grit is all that's necessary.

Polishing the mast was a joke.

However, vmg is no joke. [see new thread]

>of course all this extra sanding fairing polishing waxing is all undone with one stuffed tack<
What about the start?
If the boats around you have a 1/10kn, you will be eventually blanketed or backwinded, and pushed way back in the fleet?
You could tack out of this situation, if that is the way to go, or just be patient and get more bad air?

Pete, you may want to bring your boat by that shop Jack mentioned above and ask them what they recommend, they could tell you exactly what and how to do it...correctly, might save you some time and effort, maybe get a price for them to do it for you too.

I have a good friend who does a lot of fiberglass work on airplanes, that's who I take my boards and hulls to whenever I put dings in them. He does great work but I do have to pay him. If you want me to I'll ask him about a price to re-gelcoat your hulls.

There is "Pride in your ride". A nice shiny boat looks good and can make you feel good.

As far as gaining 1/10th of a knot – BS. Maybe in theory if you are already sailing it to its maximum.
If you are over steering, pinching, sheeting poorly or any number of the other 1000 things you can do wrong to go slow then those same things affect both the boat speed and the potential you might have gained by having a beautifully polished hull bottom.
Of those performance related driver techniques, maybe your are 50%, now you have 1/20th of a knot available form a whole lot of expense and effort.

You can gain 2 knots just from practice and it is a whole lot more fun than wet sanding.

I understand your point. I'm trying to do both, put more time on the water and have a well prepared boat.

The 1/10 seems, imo, a useful increment to determine where to spend time and money off the water.

Bottom work seems the quickest, easiest way to pick up speed and is most likely to be needed. My boards also need work, they are nicked and gouged. To my mind, the two jobs are very similar and can be accomplished at the same time.

What can save massive amounts of time on the racing course is not having stuff breaking! Make sure all your lines, fittings etc is top notch before you begin to polish your hull! Better to invest in general maintenance if you have time available in the "man cave"

Polishing the foils is OK.

Rolf, that is exactly why I force myself to wash my boat before a regatta. I always find...something...that needs to be replaced, tightened, fixed or what ever, every time I wash it. It's not 1/10th of a knot of speed I'm worried about finding, it's all the little things that can stop you dead! A great way to get a good look at them is by washing the boat.

If you stroke with your hand over the hull and it feels smooth it is okay. Scratches along the hull are less worse than others. Scratches are more worse in the forward part than in the aft part of the boat.
Foils should be fairly smooth. 800 or 1000 sanding paper required.
I do this ones per year. Wax is a must on gelcoat boats. Canuba is the best, forget all the other stuff, it is the same just more expensive.

Cheers,

Klaus

After 5 years.... After ~25 years the creases in my hull, rips in the paint, chunks missing from the bow are probably starting to slow me down!

I often think to myself that I should fair it and re paint or have it done. But I would much rather just get out there and sail!!! If I can't pick up 1/10th after a few days on the water then I'm going backwards!